Justin Trudeau’s values have me confused

So Justin Trudeau said yesterday that pro-life candidates cannot run for the Liberal party. Quote:

“It’s not for any government to legislate what happens – what a woman chooses to do with her body, and that is the bottom line,” the Liberal Leader said. “I have made it clear that future candidates need to be completely understanding that they will be expected to vote pro-choice on any bills.”

And Justin Trudeau said candidates also have to support the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Quote:

“That’s part of the green-light process,” he said. “We check on a number of issues: How do you feel about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, how do you feel about same-sex marriage, how do you feel about pro-choice, where are you on that?”

Justin Trudeau is a big fan of the values enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Quote:

“Today marks one of the most important days in our country’s history: the anniversary of the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It was more than 30 years ago that we set out to identify and enshrine the values that define our rights and responsibilities as Canadians; the Charter was the result. Three decades later, the principles of democracy, equality and fairness embodied in the Charter continue to reflect the very best of Canada and Canadians.

Embraced by our own citizens and emulated by democracies around the world, the Charter stands as a document that is both profoundly empowering and profoundly Canadian. It is our enduring responsibility as Canadians to ensure that these rights and freedoms are always upheld and preserved, never devalued or diminished.

And what is the VERY FIRST “fundamental freedom” guaranteed by the Charter to each Canadian? Let’s take a look:

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

Now the Charter protects citizens from unreasonable violations of their Charter rights and freedoms from government interference. So it doesn’t come into play in the relationship between MPs and their political party. But if Justin Trudeau holds the values that the Charter espouses so dear, like freedom of conscience for all Canadians, then how can he possibly require that MPs violate their consciences, or leave them at the door when they walk into the House of Commons?

Comments

Just saw J. Trudeau and T. Mulcair on the news advocating “a woman’s right to choose.” I hope people can grasp the irony of these two white guys “giving women permission” to do what they want with their bodies…

I don’t know that he requires MPs to violate their consciences–I think it is more of a fact that candidates of a certain conscience need not apply.

How many people marched today? Consistently about a third of Canadians say that life should be protected from conception, or very early on. What Justin Trudeau has done here is said that a third of all Canadians are unwelcome in his party.

I’m pro-life, but even playing devil’s advocate in this instance, Trudeau’s announcement doesn’t make a lot of sense. He wants to preserve the lawless status quo on abortion. Most of his caucus agrees with him, so if elected, the status quo would remain. If he allowed pro-life candidates to run for the party, the pro-lifers would likely continue to be a minority of the caucus, yet their presence would reassure pro-life voters that their voices would be heard in the Liberal caucus. This a cynical analysis, as is much of politics, but it would mean the Liberals would win votes from both pro-choice and pro-life voters. Now he is pretty much forcing pro-lifers to vote Conservative.